10 Mind-Bending Facts About Time You Need To Know

6. Time and the Cosmos: The Expansion of the Universe

The relationship between time and the cosmos is a subject of profound scientific inquiry, with the expansion of the universe providing a window into the nature of time itself. Observations of distant galaxies reveal that the universe is expanding, with galaxies moving away from one another at an accelerating rate. This discovery, first made by Edwin Hubble in the 1920s, has profound implications for our understanding of time and the universe's origins. The universe's expansion is often described in terms of "cosmic time," a measure of time that reflects the universe's age since the Big Bang. As the universe expands, the fabric of spacetime stretches, affecting the passage of time on a cosmic scale. This expansion is driven by dark energy, a mysterious force that permeates the cosmos, influencing the rate of expansion and the universe's ultimate fate.